Jagdtiger Tank Destroyer

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The Tiger II chassis, in accordance with the Heereswaffenamt policy at the time, was planned to be used as the basis for a tank destroyer variant. A full scale wooden model was demonstrated on 20 October 1943 at Arys, East Prussia, and 150 vehicles were ordered. The first production vehicle was demonstrated on 6 April 1944 in Kummersdorf. Due to shortages of components and disruption by bombing only forty-eight vehicles were completed during that year, and a total of seventy-six by the end of the war. These had serial numbers from 305001 to 305076. They were built by Steyr-Daimler-Puch at their Nibelungen-Werk, St. Valentin.The Jagdtiger used a slightly extended Tiger II chassis with the hull sides extended upwards to form an armoured barbette in place of the turret. A 250mm front plate, 80mm back plate and a bolted roof completed the superstructure. This mounted the 12.8cm PaK 80 in an armoured mantlet 250mm thick, though early production vehicles had the 12.8cm PaK 44. Due to the shortage of these weapons some vehicles were armed with the same 8.8cm PaK 43/3 as used in the Jagdpanther tank destroyer. Jagdtigers received a coating of Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste until September 1944. This was on the hull front and sides, to a line halfway up the barbette sides.Five of the first six Jagdtigers, all but 305002, were experimentally fitted with a torsion bar suspension system designed by Dr Porsche. This was essentially a variation of that used on the Elefant tank destroyer. It had eight roadwheels each side, each pair of roadwheels being suspended by a longitudinal torsion bar, and was designed to simplify production. The standard Henschel system had nine roadwheels per side, each with its own transverse torsion bar. The Porsche suspension was accepted only for limited production and was eventually used on ten vehicles in total. One vehicle, used for training, had the same narrow track that was fitted to the Elefant.From July 1944 sheet metal covers were added around the exhaust pipes to reduce their glow at night, and from August an external gun travel lock was fitted to the glacis plate, in addition to the interior one. In September full production of the Jagdtiger with the Henschel suspension began. This used the standard Tiger II track and 9-tooth sprocket. From November the 20ton roadwheel jack was deleted from its position on the rear plate, and from December mounting hooks for six sets of spare tracks were welded to each side of the superstructure. February 1945 saw the addition of four Befehlskran sockets to the top of the superstructure, hand grips over the rear doors, and dual handles on the driver’s and radio operator’s hatches. Also, at some point during production, an AA column mount was fitted on the engine deck of some vehicles. (Source: L. Archer).

This Jagdtiger was not issued to troops but used in trials at Sennelager, Germany. It was put on the museum books in 1952. Parts of the hull are covered in Zimmerit. It is displayed with its rear fighting compartment hatches open.